Partition post



A. G. DIACK PARTITION POST May 31, 1966 Filed Aug. 28, 1961 HARE/s, K/Ecw, RUSSELL 3: KEEN United States Patent 3,253,373 PARTITION POST Arthur G. Diack, 3121 W. 81st St., Inglewood, Calif. Filed Aug. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 134,273 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-292) The present invention relates to posts or post assemblies for use in partitions or enclosures which are mounted on room dividers, such as counters, in banks, offices, cafeterias, and the like. Such partitions or enclosures include panels which are usually formed of glass, but which may be formed of other materials as well.

General objects of the invention are to provide a post or post assembly for use in structures of the foregoing nature which is of simple construction, which is of clean cut design to provide an attractive appearance, which can readily be made up in various configurations from a relatively small number of different parts, which can be provided with any desired height simply by cutting one basic part to the necessary length, which cannot be disassembled manually by children in school cafeterias, which is easily cleaned as compared to prior posts for the same purpose,

and the like.

An important object of the invention is to provide a post having as the basic component thereof a square tube which may be cut to any desired length and which is provided on opposite sides thereof with internal screw troughs adapted to receive screws extending through a base plate seated against the lower end of the tube, the base plate be ing mountable on a counter, or other room divider.

The foregoing construction provides a connection between the base plate and the tube which is extremely rigid and which is achieved with a simple tube and a simple, fiat base plate. In other words, there is no necessity for a base plate having a boss, or the like, insertable into the lower end of the tube, which is an important feature of the invention since it minimizes manufacturing costs. Another object of the invention is to provide a post having a closure for the upper end of the square tube which comprises simply a cap driven into the upper end of the tube with a press fit. With this construction, the cap cannot be removed manually, which is particularly important in connection with partition posts installed in school cafeterias, removal of partition post caps by children in school cafeterias being a serious problem with prior installations,

Another object of the invention is to provide a partition post the square tube of which has secured thereto one or more vertical, external, outwardly facing channels for receiving the vertical edges of partition panels of glass, or other materials. The number and locations of the channels mounted on a particular partition post tube depend on whether the post is an end post, a center post, an inside corner post, an outside corner post, or the like. The lower the partition post, which is an important feature.

Another object is to provide a partition post of the foregoing construction carrying a shelf bracket which includes a block driven into the upper end of the square tube so as to secure it to the tube with a press fit, and which includes an arm secured to such block within the square tube and projecting laterally outwardly from the tube through a vertical slot in the upper end thereof. With ice this construction, the weight of a shelf carried by the shelf bracket is transmitted directly to the tube through the press fit between the tube and the supporting block, and no weight is transferred to the material of the tube at the lower end of the slot for the arm of the shelf bracket, which is an important feature.

Another object is to provide a shelf bracket having shelf retaining clips one secured to the outerend of the bracket arm and the other seated on the upper end of the tube and secured to the tube by screws threaded into the upper ends of the screw troughs in the tube.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the present invention, together with various other objects, advantages, features and results thereof which will be evident to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates in the light of this disclosure, may-be achieved with the exemplary embodiments of the invention described in detail hereinafter and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FTG. l is a fragmentary isometric view illustrating a glass partition which incorporates a typical partition post of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of the partition post or post assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken along the arrowed line 33 of FIG. 1;

, FIG. 4 is a fragmentary isometric view illustrating a partition post of the invention which includes a shelf bracket; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views respectively taken along the arrowed lines 55 and 66 of FIG. 4 of the drawing.

Referring initially to FIG. 1 of the drawing, illustrated therein is a counter top 10, or the like, having mounted thereon a glass partition 12 incorporating an outside corner partition post or post assembly 14 which embodies the invention. The partition 12 includes two glass panels 16 and 18 supported by the post 14. The lower edge of the panel l6 is shown as spaced upwardly from the counter top 10, While the lower edge of the panel 18 is shown as resting on the counter top.

As best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, the post 14 includes as the basic component thereof a square tube 20, which may be cut from a stock length to the length necessary to provide the post with the height desired. The tube 20 is provided on opposite sides thereof, and centrally of such opposite sides, with internal, longitudinal screw trough 22. Preferably, the tube 20 is made of a relatively soft material, such as aluminum, or an aluminum alloy, so that conventional self-tapping screws will cut their own threads, not shown, in the screw troughs 22.

The post 14 includes a flat base plate 24 which is simply seated against the lower end of the tube 20 and which is secured thereto by screws 26 extending upwardly through the base plate and threaded into the lower ends of the screw troughs 22, the heads of the screws 26 preferably being countersunk into the lower surface of the base plate. This construction provides an interconnection between the base plate 24 and the tube 20 which is extremely rigid, but which is attained very simply with inexpensively manufactured parts, this being an important feature of the invention.

In the construction illustrated, the base plate 24 extends laterally beyond the sides of the tube 20 and is secured to the counter top 10 by screws 28, which may be ordinary wood screws, extending downwardly through the base plate and threaded into the counter top. Preferably, the heads of the screws 28 are countersunk into the upper surface of the base plate.

As an alternative to the foregoing means of securing the base plate 24 to the counter top 10, the base plate may be securedthereto by a central bolt, not shown,

extending downwardly through a central hole 30 in the base plate and secured by a nut, not shown, threaded onto the lower end of the bolt below the counter top.

The upper end of the tube 20 is closed by a closure having the form of a U-shaped or channel-shaped cap 32 driven into the tube so as to secure it thereto with a press fit, no other sec'urement being necessary. The two legs or flanges of the cap 32 are so positioned that they engage the sides of the tube 20 which are not provided with the screw troughs 22 thereon. The cap 32 has a groove 33 which receives the upper ends of the screw troughs 22, the cap seating on the screw troughs to limit insertion thereof into the tube 20.

The foregoing construction provides a very simple means of securing the cap 32 to the upper end of the tube 20, and makes manual removal of the cap impossible. This is an important feature in installations, such as in school cafeterias, which are exposed to children. well known, children as a class are notorious for dismantling things out of curiosity, or in a spirit of horse play, and are particularly prone to removing things like caps on the upper ends of posts of the type to which the present invention relates. The cap 32, however, cannot be removed manually and is thus ch-ildproof. If desired, the cap 32 can be provided with a marginal flange or lip to cover the exposed upper end of the tube 20.

The panel '16 is secured to the tube 20 by inserting the adjacent vertical edge of the panel into an outwardly facing, vertical channel, or channel-shaped shoe, 34 suitably secured to the corresponding side of the tube 20, as by screws 36. The lower edge of the panel 16 is supported by a saddle 38 straddling the lower end of the channel 34, this saddle being secured by one of the screws 36.

The other panel 18 is retained by an outwardly-facing vertical channel 40 secured to the corresponding side of the tube 20, as by screws 42. In this case, since the lower edge of the panel 18 tests on the counter top 10, the channel 40 extends downwardly to the counter top. The base plate 24 is provided with a notch 44 in the corresponding edge thereof to receive the lower end of the channel 40. With this construction, the channel 40 is rigidly keyed to the base plate 24, and thus to the tube 20, which is an important feature.

It will be understood that the particular partition post or post assembly 14 illustrated is intended as exemplary only. In other words, while the invention has been shown as embodied in the outside corner post 14, it may equally well be embodied in an end post, a center or in-line post, an inside corner post, and the like. In the event that the particular post location requires two or more panels having their lower edges resting on the counter top 10, or other supporting surface, the base plate will have a corresponding number of notches to receive and key the lower ends of the corresponding retaining channels for the panels.

Turning to FIGS. 4 to 6 of the drawing, illustrated therein is a center or in-line partition post 48 of the invention which is similar to the partition post 14, but which includes a shelf bracket 50. The post 48 includes a square tube 52, similar to the tube 20, in which the shelf bracket 50 is mounted. The tube 52 is provided with screw troughs 54 on opposite sides thereof which are similar to the screw troughs 22.

. The shelf bracket 50 includes at its inner end a block 56 which is driven into the upper end of the tube 52 so as to secure the block to the tube with a press fit. The block 56 is provided with grooves 58 therein to accommodate the screw troughs 54.

The block 56 is provided therein with a groove 60 into which is inserted the inner end of a bracket arm 62, this arm being secured to the block by one or more recessed pins 64, FIG. 5. The bracket arm 62 projects laterally from one side of U1; tube 52 through'a vertical slot 66 As iswhich is formed in such side of the tube and which extends downwardly from the upper end of the tube. The lower edge of the bracket arm 62 is spaced upwardly from the lower end of the slot 66 slightly so that no weight is transmitted to the material of the tube 52 at the lower end of the slot, all of the load being carried by the press fit between the block 56 and the tube, and by a clip 68 to be described.

The shelf bracket 50 includes inner and outer clips 68 and 70 for retaining a shelf, not shown, or the adjacent ends of two shelves, not shown, formed of glass, or any other suitable material. The inner clip 68 includes a flat base 72 seated on the upper end of the tube 52 and secured by countersunk screws 74, only one of which is visible in FIG. 4 of the drawing, threaded into the upper ends of the respective s'crew troughs 54. The inner clip 68 is provided with a lip 76 under which a shelf, or the adjacent ends of two shelves, may be inserted.

The outer clip 70 is secured to the outer end of the bracket arm 62 by a recessed screw 78, which permits downward pivoting of the outer clip to permit insertion of a shelf, or the adjacent ends of two shelves. The outer clip 70 is provided with a channel 80 having an upper lip 82 aligned with and facing the lip 76 of the inner clip 68.

Preferably, the inner and outer clips 68 and 70 are provided with elastomeric buttons 84 and 86, or the like, on which the shelf or shelves rest, this being particularly desirable in the case of glass shelves.

Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A post assembly mountable on a supporting structure, and including:

(a) asquare tube;

(b) a separate, square base plate abutting and secured to one end of said tube and projecting laterally from the respective sides of said tube and having a notch in at least one edge thereof;

(c) means for securing said base plate to the supporting structure;

((1) a closure secured to the other end of said tube;

(e) a separate, external, laterally outwardly facing channel extending longitudinally of said tube and secured to one side of said tube in alignment with said notch in said base plate; and

(if) one end of said channel being disposed in said notch.

2. A post assembly mountable on a supporting structure, and including:

(a) a square tube provided with internal screw troughs on opposite sides thereof;

(b) a separate, square base plate abutting and seated against one end of said tube and projecting laterally from the respective sides of said tube and having a notch in at least one edge thereof;

(c) screws extending through said base plate and threaded into said screw troughs to secure said base plate to said tube;

(d) means for securing said base plate to the supporting structure;

(e) a closure secured to the other end of said tube;

(f) a separate, external, laterally outwardly facing channel extending longitudinally of said tube and secured to one side of said tube in alignment with said notch in said base plate; and

(g) one end of said channel being disposed in said notch.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Barrick 52-292 May 52-301 Larson 52-298 M-apson 31214O Dawson 248221 X Fernandes 248--221 X McMahan 248-225 Gwynne 189-36 X 4/ 1957 Herrschaft 52651 9/1959 DeGray 248-221 12/1959 Sharp et a1. 18936 X 6/ 1960 Waidt 248221 FOREIGN PATENTS 10/ 1957 France. 7/ 1959 France.

RICHARD W. COOKE, JR., Primary Examiner.

JOEL REZNEK, FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiners. 

1. A POST ASSEMBLY MOUNTABLE ON A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, AND INCLUDING: (A) A SQUARE TUBE; (B) A SEPARATE, SQUARE BASE PLATE ABUTTING AND SECURED TO ONE END OF SAID TUBE AND PROJECTING LATERALLY FROM THE RESPECTIVE SIDES OF SAID TUBE AND HAVING A NOTCH IN AT LEAST ONE EDGE THEREOF; (C) MEANS FOR SECURING SAID BASE PLATE TO THE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE; (D) A CLOSURE SECURED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID TUBE; (E) A SEPARATE, EXTERNAL, LATERALLY OUTWARDLY FACING CHANNEL EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID TUBE AND SECURED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID TUBE IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID NOTCH IN SAID BASE PLATE; AND (F) ONE END OF SAID CHANNEL BEING DISPOSED IN SAID NOTCH. 